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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Join us in celebrating an incredible milestone as the beloved

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Speaker 2: Jesus Calling brand reaches fifty million lives impacted. As we

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Speaker 2: honor the legacy of author Sarah Young, we reflect on

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Speaker 2: the stories from celebrities, pastors, authors, actors, singers, athletes, scholars,

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Speaker 2: and everyday people who have been inspired by her devotional writings.

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Speaker 2: To join in the celebration and to hear some of

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Speaker 2: the stories of people whose faith journeys have been impacted

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Speaker 2: by all the writings of Sarah Young, head over to

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Speaker 2: Jesus Calling dot com.

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Speaker 3: It's through our surrendering that God does his establishing, whether

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Speaker 3: it's in our career, our finances, our marriage, or you know,

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Speaker 3: our sense of control. And I think that obedience is

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Speaker 3: what ultimately land me to the White House.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. This week, we'll hear

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Speaker 2: from Michael Leach, who went from the high pressure, competitive

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Speaker 2: world of the NFL to navigating the intense landscape of

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Speaker 2: national politics, ultimately becoming the first ever Chief Diversity officer

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Speaker 2: in the White House. Leech reveals the defining moments from

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Speaker 2: simple childhood boundaries on the South Side of Chicago to

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Speaker 2: faith led decisions that cost him his seemingly secure career

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Speaker 2: that prepared him for roles he never planned. Later in

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Speaker 2: the episode, we'll hear from entrepreneur and business leader David Meltzer.

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Speaker 2: David opens up about growing up with intense financial insecurity,

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Speaker 2: reaching extraordinary success, amassing over one hundred million dollars by

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Speaker 2: the age of thirty, and the catastrophic moment he lost

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Speaker 2: absolutely everything. Let's begin with Michael's story.

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Speaker 3: My name is Michael Leech, a proud father of twin

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Speaker 3: daughters who are three years old Pray for me, a

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Speaker 3: husband to my incredible wife of nearly fourteen years, and

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Speaker 3: the founder and CEO of Bridge Trust Partners, which is

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Speaker 3: a purpose driven advisory firm where we help leaders organization's

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Speaker 3: clarify vision, built trust, and fund what matters. I'm originally

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Speaker 3: from the South Side of Chicago, and growing up I

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Speaker 3: had big dreams. For a while, I had imagined myself

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Speaker 3: as an actor or maybe a professional athlete, and you know,

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Speaker 3: I love sports deeply, but early on I realized that

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Speaker 3: my athletic ability had its limits, but the business of

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Speaker 3: sports didn't, and so my dream then centered on becoming

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Speaker 3: the NFL commissioner or an NFL team president one.

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Speaker 1: Day, and that realization really changed everything for me.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 1: I combined my love for.

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Speaker 3: Sports and business and pursued sports management in college, which

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Speaker 3: ultimately opened doors that I could have never imagined. And

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Speaker 3: I had two loving parents who were very much, deeply

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Speaker 3: rooted in faith and just demonstrated what it meant for

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Speaker 3: me and my two brothers. I was the middle child

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Speaker 3: on what it looked like to walk by faith and

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Speaker 3: not by sight, as they always said, and they kept

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Speaker 3: us involved in sports, you know. And I think what

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Speaker 3: I loved most about sports wasn't just the competition. It

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Speaker 3: was the way it brought people together, right, whether for

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Speaker 3: four quarters or whatever the game was, People from different neighborhoods, backgrounds,

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Speaker 3: beliefs could share common identity around the team. A vivid

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Speaker 3: early memory of fear, I would say for me, comes

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Speaker 3: when I was between five or seven years old riding

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Speaker 3: my bike on the South side of Chicago. My parents

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Speaker 3: had very clear boundaries, as many parents do. I could

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Speaker 3: ride my bike on the sidewalk only, but only to

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Speaker 3: the second to last house on the block, never to

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Speaker 3: the corner, and so I would ride. I would stop,

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Speaker 3: turn the bike around and go back the other way

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Speaker 3: over and over again, and at the time, you know,

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Speaker 3: it felt restrictive, but looking back, they learned something deeper

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Speaker 3: that gang activity potential other activity happening down there. I

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Speaker 3: had to trust my parents' judgment and trusting that they

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Speaker 3: could see farther than I could. And I think that

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Speaker 3: same sense of trust was shaped inside our home, especially

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Speaker 3: on New Year's Eve, while other families are celebrating, nights

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Speaker 3: looked different. We would have to turn all the lights off,

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Speaker 3: never forget, get down on our knees and pray together

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Speaker 3: as a family because in our neighborhood people would often

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Speaker 3: shoot their firearms into the air at midnight, and if

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Speaker 3: the house was lit, it could become a target.

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Speaker 1: And so instead of fireworks, we prayed.

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Speaker 3: And I remember, as a young child, to somebody's whispering,

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Speaker 3: simple prayers to God, asking them to bless our family

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Speaker 3: with a new house one day, a big backyard, and

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Speaker 3: maybe even a swimming pool. And I remember praying something

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Speaker 3: I didn't fully understand yet, but that God would give

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Speaker 3: me a life and a job.

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Speaker 1: That would help me change the world in my environment.

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Speaker 3: And so I didn't realize it at the time, but

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Speaker 3: those moments were teaching me how to trust under authority.

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Speaker 3: And I think even through as we're talking out through

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Speaker 3: Jesus Calling, we used to read those daily devotionals together

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Speaker 3: after dinner with to me my two brothers. I had

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Speaker 3: to give a shout out to my mom, Maria Leech,

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Speaker 3: who gifted me my first copy in college, and I

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Speaker 3: carried it with me through every season, rereading it year

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Speaker 3: after years.

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Speaker 1: My life changed.

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Speaker 3: Even while we're working with the Chicago Bears, I would

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Speaker 3: read Jesus Calling Me for anything else. Even before the

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Speaker 3: head coach's calendar I was reading that book. Faith wasn't abstract,

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Speaker 3: it was really practiced, and I think that early trust

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Speaker 3: helped me to later trust my heavenly Father, not just

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Speaker 3: my earthly father. And that's kind of why I came

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Speaker 3: to believe that God does set boundaries not to limit us, but.

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Speaker 1: To protect us and prepare us. And I think, just

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Speaker 1: like my parents, he could see farther than I could.

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Speaker 3: And I think that was really the formative years that

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Speaker 3: got me sort of working in my prayer life, even

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Speaker 3: though I didn't fully know how to articulate it. Then

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Speaker 3: during my time with Chicago Bears, especially as assistant to

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Speaker 3: the head coach. I represented the head coach and meetings,

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Speaker 3: managed logistics, worked the sidelines, and really was that bridge

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Speaker 3: between all players, executives, media, fans and communities in the

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Speaker 3: head coach. And one lesson that stayed with me in

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Speaker 3: that space because I was amazed I got that role

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Speaker 3: when I just turned twenty five for was this lesson.

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Speaker 3: And it was this that everyone communicates, but few connect

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Speaker 3: and when you're interacting with hundreds of people in high

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Speaker 3: pressure environments, communication alone isn't enough.

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Speaker 1: Like connection was what for me built trust.

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Speaker 3: And I think trust is what allowed teams, organizations, even

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Speaker 3: families or people to go farther. And I think that

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Speaker 3: lesson shape not just my career in the NFL, but

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Speaker 3: but everything I lead today. Sports teaches you collaboration, consistency, humility,

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Speaker 3: and service. You know, and you don't get to skip

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Speaker 3: steps in the NFL. You always have to work your

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Speaker 3: way up from the bottom. And I would say one

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Speaker 3: of the leadership principles I still live by is this,

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Speaker 3: you know, one of the best ways to find yourself

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Speaker 3: is to lose yourself in the service of others. Right,

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Speaker 3: That's where my commitment to servant leadership was formed. I

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Speaker 3: left the NFL only because I believe God called me

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Speaker 3: to do so, and I trusted that if he called

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Speaker 3: me to unfamiliar.

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Speaker 1: Territory that he will sustain me there also, and he did.

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Speaker 3: And I think that obedience is what ultimately led me

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Speaker 3: to the White House, you know, in a role that

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Speaker 3: was specifically created for me by the President of the

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Speaker 3: United States. Stepping into the White House as the first

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Speaker 3: ever Chief Diversity Officer meant walking into a role no blueprint,

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Speaker 3: immense complexity, national visibility, and a host of other things.

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Speaker 3: And the day to day work it really centered on

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Speaker 3: organizational culture because people don't care how much.

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Speaker 1: You know until they know how much you care.

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Speaker 3: And so learning and development, staff policy, stakeholder engagement.

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Speaker 1: And I often distilled my role into three pillars.

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Speaker 3: Learning and development, connection and community because I think we

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Speaker 3: should never stop learning, because life never stops teaching.

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Speaker 1: And yes, there were fears, of course, but it was

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Speaker 1: my faith that anchored me. You know. I viewed the

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Speaker 1: role through stewardship, right, not ideology.

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Speaker 3: If God called me to steward it, my responsibility was

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Speaker 3: to steward it well. And that season taught me the

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Speaker 3: power of surrender. I think it's through our surrendering that

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Speaker 3: God does his establishing, whether it's in our career, our finances,

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Speaker 3: our marriage, or you know, our sense of control. Fast

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Speaker 3: forward to my work today, whether building culture, falsehood, inclusion,

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Speaker 3: or leading the firm alongside my wife now, the same

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Speaker 3: principle still driving. The season that carried the most uncertainty

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Speaker 3: that required daily grounding was when I was living in Philadelphia,

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Speaker 3: That's where presidential campaign headquarters were located, and I was

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Speaker 3: leading it as chief people officer, and it was just

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Speaker 3: incredibly taxing, working eighteen hour days.

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Speaker 1: You're on call twenty four to seven.

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Speaker 3: Everything is a priority and urgent and felt like a

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Speaker 3: fire that needed to be put out, and you never

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Speaker 3: knew how big the fire would be and how long

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Speaker 3: it would burn for. And so each morning, whether it

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Speaker 3: be on my walks to the office, train rides to

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Speaker 3: the office, or whatever may be, I began with prayer

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Speaker 3: and for this Jesus Calling or Jesus Listens book that

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Speaker 3: I carried with me since twenty eleven, or something in

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Speaker 3: the Bible app a plan that I was on.

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Speaker 1: I would do that and then listen to praise and worship.

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Speaker 3: Music, and I would do that, whether be elevation worship

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Speaker 3: or torn well as you name it, just the kind

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Speaker 3: of center and make sure I wasn't confusing my resources

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Speaker 3: with who the source was, because I believe that everything

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Speaker 3: you consume will eventually come out of you, for better

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Speaker 3: or for worse.

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Speaker 1: What you listen to, what you eat, what you view,

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Speaker 1: what you watch.

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Speaker 3: And I learned that, you know, when I did that,

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Speaker 3: when I just surrendered the day at the top of

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Speaker 3: the day, that it.

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Speaker 1: Didn't matter what came at me during the day.

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Speaker 3: It didn't matter whose hand it started from, Like even

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Speaker 3: if it started by the hand of my enemy, it

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Speaker 3: had to pass through the hand of my God before

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Speaker 3: it got to me. And I think that helped me

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Speaker 3: sort of have this deep belief that again God is

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Speaker 3: able to intervene and dispatch angels to work on your

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Speaker 3: behalf when you don't know you need someone speaking for

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Speaker 3: you in the next room or in that organization or

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Speaker 3: on that email threat. And so for me, that really

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Speaker 3: gave me a sense of peace and understanding that even

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Speaker 3: though things are going to come up, He's always going

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Speaker 3: to stay up and above what's coming your way. I

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Speaker 3: would say that to everyone listening, I really believe someone

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Speaker 3: is like on the brink of something significant under the

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Speaker 3: sound of my voice. And God doesn't waste moments like this,

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Speaker 3: even though it feels serendipitous. And I'm just humbled and

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Speaker 3: grateful to be a vessel and offer what God first

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Speaker 3: gave to me so others can live with greater faith.

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Speaker 3: And I would say the reason it's so important is

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Speaker 3: that you never get a second chance to make a

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Speaker 3: first impression. And when you have something like this to start,

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Speaker 3: you'd be surprised at how your first impressions and what

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Speaker 3: you lead with, and how you respond with and what

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Speaker 3: you think with the first thoughts that come in your

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Speaker 3: mind as you engage with other people.

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Speaker 1: It's just more centered and more grounded.

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Speaker 2: To learn more about Michael Leech, visit my Faith Overfear

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Speaker 2: dot com and be sure to check out his new book,

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Speaker 2: Faith Over Fear Harnessing Resilience in the Face of Uncertainty

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Speaker 2: at your favorite retailer. Stay tuned to David Meltzer's story

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Speaker 2: after brief message, celebrate the mothers, grandmothers, and mom figures

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Speaker 2: in your life with the Jesus. Listens for Mom's Prayer

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Speaker 2: devotional by beloved author Sarah Young. Inside you'll find fifty

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Speaker 2: prayers that speak to the power of love, the gift

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Speaker 2: of strength, trusting God during challenging times, have encourage and

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Speaker 2: so much more. Accompanying the prayers are beautiful illustrations, scripture, verses,

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Speaker 2: and quotes that will uplift women of every age and

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Speaker 2: help them talk and walk more closely with Jesus, making

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Speaker 2: it the perfect gift for Mother's days, birthdays and more.

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Speaker 2: Find it today at your favorite retailer. Our next guest

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Speaker 2: is David Meltzer, an entrepreneur and business leader. David shares

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Speaker 2: how growing up with financial insecurity shaped his understanding of success,

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Speaker 2: and even after he reached the highest levels of achievement,

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Speaker 2: he still was left to search for something more.

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Speaker 5: My name is David Meltzer.

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Speaker 6: I am a speaker, author, entrepreneur, investor on a mission

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Speaker 6: to empower over a billion people to be happy by

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Speaker 6: teaching them the three things I'm good at, making a

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Speaker 6: lot of money for the sake of helping a lot

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Speaker 6: of people, and having a lot of fun. I grew

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Speaker 6: up with a single mom and six kids in Akron, Ohio,

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Speaker 6: with one thing in my mind to resolve the only

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Speaker 6: problem or struggle in my life, which was financial insecurity.

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Speaker 6: My mom worked two jobs, one as a second grade teacher,

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Speaker 6: packed our dinners in a paper bag so we could eat,

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Speaker 6: and then drove around Akron, Ohio, filling turnstiles at convenience

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Speaker 6: stores with greeting cards, just so we could have enough

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Speaker 6: money to survive. The only time I wasn't happy was

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Speaker 6: when there was a financial struggle or difficulty. So from

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Speaker 6: a very young age, all I wanted to do was

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Speaker 6: to make a lot of money for the sake of

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Speaker 6: helping my mom, buying her a house and a car,

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Speaker 6: creating financial security for my family, and of course continuing

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Speaker 6: the fun and the love that I grew up with

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Speaker 6: my family. Unfortunately, I was misguided when I reached my

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Speaker 6: early days of success in my twenties because I attributed

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Speaker 6: and identified all my success to how much money I made.

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Speaker 6: I was worth over one hundred million dollars by the

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Speaker 6: time I was thirty, and if my bank account went

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Speaker 6: up even as little as one hundred dollars, I was happy.

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Speaker 6: But went down as little as one hundred dollars, I

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Speaker 6: was disappointed or sad.

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Speaker 5: So although success.

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Speaker 6: Came early, I gave it a meaning that was trying

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Speaker 6: to fill a god size hole with everything, but God

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Speaker 6: and money doesn't fill the God size hole that we

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Speaker 6: are given. And I bought into other people telling me

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Speaker 6: that that was true success. In two thousand and eight,

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Speaker 6: I lost over one hundred million dollars. I went bankrupt.

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Speaker 6: But even worse, I had to tell my mom that

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Speaker 6: I went bankrupt, but even tell her that.

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Speaker 5: I'd lost her home, that she had to move.

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Speaker 6: And when I walked up to her house in tears,

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Speaker 6: barely able to communicate to her, she looked at me

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Speaker 6: and asked me, are you okay?

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Speaker 5: And I barely could say yes. He said, is Julie

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Speaker 5: your wife okay? I said yes? Are the kids okay? Yes?

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Speaker 6: What's the matter? How can I help? I said, Mom,

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Speaker 6: I lost everything. I lost over one hundred million dollars.

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Speaker 6: I went bankrupt, and unfortunately I didn't take my name

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Speaker 6: off of your title.

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Speaker 5: I lost your home. You're going to have to move.

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Speaker 6: My mom looked at me and said, oh, do you

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Speaker 6: need some money?

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Speaker 5: I said, Mom, I don't think you heard me. I

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Speaker 5: lost everything. You need to move. She said, oh, no, no,

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Speaker 5: I heard you. Are you okay?

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Speaker 6: What can I do for you? In tears, I blurted, Mom,

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Speaker 6: why am I being punished? I've tried so hard to provide.

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Speaker 5: Everyone around me everything that they desired or needed.

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Speaker 1: She said, punished.

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Speaker 6: I said, yeah, why is God punishing me? She said, Oh,

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Speaker 6: God doesn't punish. You're being protected and promoted, loved and

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Speaker 6: perfected by God. You just don't realize it. I said, well, Mom,

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Speaker 6: I don't believe in God. She smirked at me. I'll

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Speaker 6: never forget her face. She just smirked at me and said, oh, son,

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Speaker 6: you believe in God, You just believe in the wrong God.

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Speaker 6: And it hit me, It still hits me today that

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Speaker 6: I was trying to fill a god's size hole with

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Speaker 6: everything but God. Time, I took stock and who I

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Speaker 6: was and what I wanted to become and realized not

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Speaker 6: only did I have to seek the wisdom, but I

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Speaker 6: had to have the faith that I was regardless of

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Speaker 6: the evidence. There was no evidence that day i'd ever

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Speaker 6: get back. There was evidence was contrary that I would

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Speaker 6: ever get back to where I was with financial success.

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Speaker 6: But it was faith that told me I was being protected, promoted, loved,

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Speaker 6: and perfected by this struggle, this setback that created a

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Speaker 6: set up here nineteen years later, more than I ever

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Speaker 6: dreamed of. Two years before, I lost everything. I was

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Speaker 6: a liar, a cheater, manipulator, overseller and back end seller.

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Speaker 6: I hated my mom, I hated my dad, I hated

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Speaker 6: my best friend. And now my wife was leaving me,

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Speaker 6: and I told her I hated her. It was that

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Speaker 6: day when I got caught lying about going to the

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Speaker 6: Grammy Awards with the rapper, when I was using drugs

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Speaker 6: and alcohol to numb the pain of my own integrity

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Speaker 6: and lack thereof that I was told by my wife

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Speaker 6: that I needed to save myself, that I needed to

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Speaker 6: take stock and who I was and find my faith

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Speaker 6: once again to get to where I wanted to be

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Speaker 6: here better, or I was going to die.

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Speaker 5: Initially my response was I hate you.

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Speaker 6: But the next day, when I looked at a jacket

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Speaker 6: my father had given me for my thirtieth birthday that

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Speaker 6: had no pockets, the time that I told him again

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Speaker 6: I hated him, and he told me I was just

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Speaker 6: like him, that money would not buy me love. Money

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Speaker 6: was not my God, and so he gave me a

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Speaker 6: jacket with no pockets to hang in my closet to

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Speaker 6: remind me.

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Speaker 5: After six years, while I was.

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Speaker 6: Running the most notable sports agency in the world, while

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Speaker 6: I was worth more than one hundred million dollars, while

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Speaker 6: I had access to what even billionaires couldn't afford to.

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Speaker 5: Have access to. I looked over at that jacket and realized.

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Speaker 6: I don't hate my mom, my dad, my best friend,

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Speaker 6: and I certainly didn't hate my wife.

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Speaker 5: I hated myself. And so I sat there that day.

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Speaker 6: And found my calling, taking stock and the values that

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Speaker 6: my mom had taught me that are faith based values

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Speaker 6: of gratitude, forgiveness, accountability, and inspiration.

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Speaker 5: I was going to live my life buy these values.

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Speaker 6: And practice them every day in a faithful, devotional way,

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Speaker 6: understanding that although I was very disciplined, there's a difference

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Speaker 6: between discipline and devotion, and I was going to live

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Speaker 6: with discipline as a subset of my devotion, my divine direction,

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Speaker 6: my calling each and every day, and live by the

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Speaker 6: foundational values that I had learned and lost now to

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Speaker 6: execute and to learn again. I think it's a non

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Speaker 6: negotiable to connect with God daily and as I receive

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Speaker 6: my calling to empower others to be happy, to change

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Speaker 6: the world by empowering a thousand people, to make a

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Speaker 6: lot of money, help a lot of people, and have

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Speaker 6: a lot of fun. That calling came to me, and

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Speaker 6: it is only faith that has fulfilled that promise and

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Speaker 6: understanding that I need to give time and space to

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Speaker 6: God every day. It's a non negotiable practice. And it's

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Speaker 6: not just prayer. It's my non negotiable practice of having

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Speaker 6: minimum amount of sleep, a minimum amount of time on

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Speaker 6: my health, a minimum of time with my family and my.

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Speaker 5: Faith every day seven days away.

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Speaker 6: Two minutes a day of faith is worth two hours

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Speaker 6: on a Saturday.

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Speaker 5: If I could.

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Speaker 6: Encourage anyone to make God and to make their faith

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Speaker 6: non negotiable, whether it's meditation or prayer or just living

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Speaker 6: in the divine direction of taking care of your sleep,

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Speaker 6: your health, your family, and your faith every day, knowing

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Speaker 6: that two minutes a day is worth two hours on

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Speaker 6: a Saturday. I'm reading from Jesus Listens, January two. Beloved Jesus,

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Speaker 6: I want to be all yours. I invite you to

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Speaker 6: wean me from other dependencies. You have shown me that

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Speaker 6: my security rests in you alone, not in other people,

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Speaker 6: not in my circumstances. Trying to depend only on you

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Speaker 6: sometimes feels like walking on a tight rope. Yet I

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Speaker 6: don't need to be afraid of falling because your ever

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Speaker 6: lasting arms are a safety net underneath me. Please help

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Speaker 6: me to keep looking ahead to you, Jesus, I know

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Speaker 6: that you're always before me, becketing me on one step

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Speaker 6: at a time. As I spend quiet time with you,

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Speaker 6: I can almost hear you whispering follow me, loved Lord.

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Speaker 6: I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels

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Speaker 6: nor demons, neither the present nor the future nor any powers,

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Speaker 6: neither height nor death nor anything else in all creation

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Speaker 6: will be able to separate me from your loving presence

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Speaker 6: in your precious name.

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Speaker 5: Amen.

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Speaker 2: To learn more about David Meltzer, visit dmeltzer dot com.

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Speaker 2: If you'd like to hear more stories about the true

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Speaker 2: meaning of success, check out our interview with Cindy Thompson.

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Speaker 2: Next time on the Jesus Calling podcast, we'll hear from

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Speaker 2: John Acuff, a best selling author, speaker, and former corporate

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Speaker 2: marketer who turned a satirical blog into a platform that

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Speaker 2: now helps millions rethink their mindset and pursue meaningful goals.

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Speaker 4: One of the soundtracks I use in my own life

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Speaker 4: is that fear comes free, hope takes work. You'll never

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Speaker 4: have to look for fear, it will find you. You'll

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Speaker 4: never have to look for stress or anxiety. It will

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Speaker 4: find you often in the grocery store, not even connected

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Speaker 4: to anything you're doing. But hope takes effort, Positivity takes effort.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to the Jesus Calling Stories of Faith

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Speaker 2: podcast on the Life Audio Network. Every week, we'll bring

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Speaker 2: you stories from people who share their journeys of faith

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Speaker 2: and how prayer and a relationship with God transformed their lives.

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Speaker 2: Be sure to follow us on Apple, Spotify, iHeart, or

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Speaker 2: wherever you listen to podcasts, and leave us a review

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Speaker 2: so others can be inspired weekly by these stories of faith. Finally,

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Speaker 2: you can find encouragement resources and more on the Jesus

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Speaker 2: Calling website at Jesus Calling dot com